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Spicy Chettinad Prawn Masala / Chettinad Eral Masala

I don’t do much of prawn dishes at home as my husband is allergic to shell fish. But I love prawns. This recipe for Chettinad Prawn Masala is my favorite. More than a decade ago, we were on an Air India flight to Mauritius for our honey moon. They had just served prawn curry for in flight meals and we were just casually talking and eating. He ate the bread and then went on to have a big bite of rice and the curry. Suddenly he started coughing. Coughing really badly and his eyes were all red. He did not realize that it was prawn curry and he told me that he was allergic to prawns. He was suffering. I froze for a minute. That was the first time I was seeing someone react to food allergy. I am severely allergic to pollen etc.. myself and so I carry anti-histamines with me all the time. He had one of those and he kind of became OK after a couple of hours. Poor guy. I love prawns. My son is kind of getting to like prawns nowadays. So I do it at home once in a while when my husband is travelling. Little perks of things when husband is not home. Prawns cook very fast and this Chettinad Prawn Masala is so easy to make. This dish can be put together in less than 20 minutes.

Use only sesame oil for this recipe. Add the curry leaves lavishly. The aroma of curry leaves fried in sesame oil is to die for in this Chettinad Prawn Masala.
Heat sesame oil (gingely oil / nallennai ) in a pan and add in the fennel seeds (sombu), cardamom and curry leaves. Let it sizzle. Add in the finely chopped onions and fry for 5-6 minutes until the onions are brown.

Add in the chopped tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, spice powders and the salt. Saute for 5-6 minutes on medium flame until the tomatoes are cooked and the oil starts separating from the mixture. The mixture should be dry by now.

Add in the cleaned and de-veined prawns to the mixture. Prawns cook fast. Saute for 4-5 minutes until the prawns are fully cooked. Switch off the flame and garnish the prawn masala with coriander leaves.

Heat sesame oil in a pan and add in the fennel seeds, cardamom and curry leaves. Let it sizzle. Add in the finely chopped onions and fry for 5-6 minutes until the onions are brown.

Add in the tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, spice powders and the salt. Saute for 5-6 minutes on medium flame until the tomatoes are cooked and the oil starts separating from the mixture. The mixture should be dry by now.

Add in the cleaned and de-veined prawns to the mixture. Prawns cook fast. Saute for 4-5 minutes until the prawns are fully cooked. Switch off the flame and garnish the prawn masala with coriander leaves.

I chanced upon your website a few months back while searching for a nice prawn recipe and boy am I glad I ended up on this page. I luckily saved the recipe but never got the time to try it. Today was the lucky day I guess. This recipe is out of the world. I cannot thank you enough for introducing me to this recipe. Everybody loved it at home. I would definitely try more recipes from your page.

Hi Suguna, I attempted this recipe for my wife and father and it worked out very well. those pictures tempted me to cook and yes, it’s the first time we tried sesame oil. We are maharastrians in bangalore so it was a different experience. Took your suggestion and had it with egg biryani; sadly I couldn’t taste it as I am allergic to shell fishes but family loved it.

Tried this recipe and it came out awesome and really tasty.. felt like eating a dish in a restaurant.. my husband loved it so much.. we both love shrimp dishes so much.. This is the first time I am trying at home and the result was amazing.. Thank u so much Suguna for the dish..

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I’m Suguna, a former financial analyst, now a full-time food blogger. Welcome to my space. I share recipes gathered from my friends and family here. I am passionate about South Indian food. I crazy love knives. A sharp knife is a girls best friend. Hope you like the recipes here. Happy Cooking. Read more.....